Chapter 33

Dong Zhuo was not a completely unreasonable man.

He did not replace the majority of the fence-sitting Han ministers.

Those who were replaced were only those who did not know how to hide their emotions and harbored hostility toward him.

Subsequently, this so-called "Imperial Palace Grand Court Meeting" concluded successfully under the intimidation of Dong Zhuo and his army.

All the civil and military officials of the Dong Zhuo army were promoted.

Hua Xiong, because of his great merit at Sishui Pass, was promoted to General Who Guards the East, ranking above Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, and Zhang Ji.

Gu Yi had not wanted to be an official, but under Dong Zhuo’s persuasion, he eventually accepted the position of Magistrate of Luoyang.

This position was equivalent to the top leader of the capital city.

It was not a high-ranking court position, but it definitely held significant influence in the court.

However,

upon learning that Gu Yi had been promoted to Magistrate of Luoyang,

the happiest person was definitely not Gu Yi himself.

It was Wang Yun!

If Gu Yi’s status in Wang Yun’s eyes had previously been that of a rising favorite in front of Dong Zhuo,

then now, Gu Yi had directly become a key figure with real power!

The Magistrate of Luoyang might not compare to the major General titles or the Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers.

But he was someone who could have a say throughout the entire Luoyang territory!

And he possessed jurisdiction over administrative affairs.

After the imperial court meeting ended,

Wang Yun immediately chased after Gu Yi as fast as he could.

"Young friend Gu, I heard you don't have a place to stay in Luoyang yet?"

"I have a residence in the east of the city that I have always had servants clean."

"I am old now and cannot go to the battlefield myself to render service to the country."

"In the future, such matters of serving the court must be entrusted to you young people."

"You can stay in this residence for as long as you like."

Wang Yun knew that Gu Yi was different from the other civil and military officials of the Dong Zhuo army.

Most of those fellows were already over thirty.

While Gu Yi was not even twenty.

If Wang Yun did not seize the time to win him over now,

the remaining old guys, such as Yang Biao and Shi Sunrui, would certainly not miss such a good opportunity to win Gu Yi over.

After all,

Gu Yi could be considered to have joined the Dong Zhuo army halfway through.

He could not be called a die-hard loyalist.

If one could win over such a talented person, it would definitely be a matter of more benefits than drawbacks.

And for Wang Yun, Gu Yi appeared even more important!

Don't look at how Wang Yun pretended to be Dong Zhuo’s loyal sycophant on the surface.

But in reality?

If one were to talk about who in the entire city of Luoyang wanted to kill Dong Zhuo the most, it would definitely be Wang Yun!

However,

Wang Yun’s wishful thinking fell through.

Gu Yi smiled and said:

"Many thanks for the kindness, Minister."

"But the Chancellor has already arranged a place for me."

"Another day, I will certainly prepare heavy gifts to visit your residence."

Hearing that Dong Zhuo had already arranged a place for Gu Yi, Wang Yun simply gave up on his original idea.

But being sharp, he instantly noted Gu Yi’s remark about "visiting his residence another day."

"This kid..."

Wang Yun narrowed his eyes.

Intuition told him that Gu Yi was hinting at something.

Young people are the most hot-blooded.

Wang Yun sized Gu Yi up.

The more he looked, the more he felt that if a certain plan in his heart were to be executed, the success rate would be very high.

"It seems I must have Diao Chan hurry up and prepare after I return."

Watching Gu Yi’s departing back,

Wang Yun muttered to himself.

……. ===== CHAPTER 69 =====

South of Luoyang City

As a great hero of the Battle of Sishui Pass and the Battle of Hulao Pass, how could Dong Zhuo not arrange a residence for his future grandson-in-law?

The residence he arranged for Gu Yi was a top-tier home that could be called luxurious.

Moreover, he also provided Gu Yi with some servants.

It could be said that every detail was attended to.

It is worth mentioning that

shortly after Gu Yi moved in,

Hua Xiong came to his door with a roasted wild rabbit and a roasted pheasant.

After three rounds of drinks,

Hua Xiong was already half-drunk.

He let out a burp and then said in a muddled manner:

"Gu Yi, tell me, if those two fellows Li Jue and Guo Si knew that my official rank is now above theirs, what would they think?"

Li Jue and Guo Si,

along with Fan Chou and Zhang Ji, were collectively known as the "Xiliang Army F4."

But the difference was,

compared to the gentle-natured Zhang Ji and the rough-and-tumble Fan Chou,

Li Jue and Guo Si were undoubtedly more hot-tempered.

Their ambitions were also relatively much larger.

Historically, the counterattack on Chang'an to execute Wang Yun was led by these two.

But after killing Wang Yun, these two completely let themselves go.

The reputation of the Xiliang Army was already poor, but while Dong Zhuo was still alive, there was some restraint.

After Dong Zhuo died, under the leadership of Li Jue and Guo Si, the Xiliang Army became even more like rats crossing the street, with everyone shouting to beat them.

But the worst part was not even this.

What made people feel extremely speechless was that

despite sitting on an army of over a hundred thousand, Li Jue and Guo Si managed to ruin the Xiliang Army from a top-tier warlord force to a third-rate one within five years.

In the third year of Jian'an, which was 198 AD, Li Jue and Guo Si died one after another at the hands of small warlords in the Guanzhong region.

What was the composition of those small Guanzhong warlords?

They were small separatist forces that had rebelled more than ten years ago alongside Bian Zhang, Han Sui, and Ma Teng.

In other words, most of these guys were former defeated subordinates of Dong Zhuo.

Yet, even such a group of people could pin Li Jue and Guo Si to the ground and rub them!

From this, it can be seen that Li Jue and Guo Si were absolutely not cut out to be lords.

The foundation of the Xiliang Army was completely ruined at the hands of these two. ===== CHAPTER 70 =====